​How fast is Kylian Mbappe? How speedy France star compares to fastest NFL players and more originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.Speed might not be the most important thing on a soccer pitch. But it’s pretty damn close, particularly when rosters are littered with plodding talents as opposed to mobile mavens.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThere are dozens of players blessed with the guile and technical attributes required to find success at this year’s World Cup. Few have the speed of the sport’s most famous blur, Kylian Mbappe.To borrow words from the late, great boxer, Muhammad Ali, Mbappe is fast enough “to turn off the light switch” in his hotel room and beat the darkness to his bed. He’s a wild and wonderful sight on the soccer pitch, charging down loose efforts and dancing towards the cage before lashing fiery efforts towards — and more often, beyond — the goalkeeper.There might not be a faster player in world soccer than Mbappe. Here’s a look at how his top speed compares to that of other noteworthy athletes.2026 WORLD CUP HQ:Latest World Cup news | Full World Cup schedule | Buy World Cup ticketsAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn a sport filled with burners, Mbappe is amongst the most eye-catching. By any metric, Mbappe is one of soccer’s fastest talents. He regularly outpaces defenders, posting a top speed of 37.6 km/h — roughly equivalent to 23.4 miles per hour — at this year’s World Cup.That’s comfortably the best mark in the tournament, sitting two km/h better than runner-ups Achraf Hakimi and Erling Haaland.Mbappe’s explosiveness was on full display during Les Bleus’ 2-0 win over Morocco in the quarter-finals. The 27-year-old forward raced down the field after the Atlas Lions turned the ball over in France’s half, putting on the jets to slip beyond Morocco’s defense. His dizzying sprint worked a charm; Noussair Mazraoui was forced to cut him down in the box, leading to a penalty kick.Admittedly, it’s hard to convert Mbappe’s speed — which takes place over a widening expanse of grass — to that of the 40-yard dash, a contrived event that sees athletes mimic Olympic-quality sprinters for all of 40 yards before descending into a rest state.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHowever, his blistery top speed appears to suggest that Mbappe would perform well in the 40. Trainer Gareth Sandford analyzed Mbappe’s sprint speed during the 2022-23 season and found that his maximal sprinting speed that Champions League campaign — 10.19 m/s — falls two m/s short of Usain Bolt.Sandford claimed that Mbappe’s data was comparable to that of 800m runners, not the 100m speedsters one might expect.Regardless, Mbappe’s sprinting prowess is impressive. His top speed is similar to that of Tyreek Hill, who posted a 23.24 mph figure in 2017, per The Big Lead. Mbappe might not quite be a John Ross- or Xavier Worthy-level figure in the 40. But the metrics suggest